(Illustration from the Dance of Death by Michael Wolgemut (1493)
A dance troupe
Stands in backlit fog;
The fog is fake,
But music
Makes it real.
The dancers move
As if they are
Afraid, scatter
Across the stage
To search
For a way out --
But no matter
Where they go,
We can still see them.
We feel their fear
And want them
To escape
From this great threat
That we can’t see;
The music has described it to us
Vividly enough –
but the fourth wall
still blocks their way.
If not for that,
We feel how far
The drums could
drive them;
Imagination
Takes its shape
From limits.
-- © 2010 by Jack Veasey
(All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced or duplicated in any way without the author's written permission.)
